Moon and DPRK Officials in North Korean Concert

Jonathan Hernandez |Monday, February 12, 2018

North Korean media print pictures of South's Moon

The Korean women's hockey team, the first in Olympic history to combine players from North and South, lost 8-0 to Switzerland on Saturday night in its debut game in front of a raucous, sellout crowd on a historic night mixing sports and politics on an global stage.

Pence said to reporters that President Moon had given Washington a strong reassurance of their support for the harsh measures to pile pressure on Kim Jong Un and his administration so that he can abandon his weapons program and finally achieve a fully denuclearized Korean peninsula.

Kim Yo Jong, second from right, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, sits alongside Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of North Korean Parliament, at the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

Throughout the ceremony there were constant winks to peace, such as the theme "Imagine" by John Lennon, an ode to coexistence, sung by four well-known South Korean singers.

In one picture, the unified Korean team-which will share locker rooms and practice space-pauses for a group selfie.

He said that when he met South Korea's defense minister in January, it was made clear "there is no wedge that can be driven between us by North Korea".

Pence arrived late and stayed for just five minutes - and did not interact with the delegation from the North - at a Friday VIP reception for delegation leaders. The U.S. -led worldwide community has been tightening the screws on North Korea with sanctions created to punish its economy and rein in its efforts to expand its nuclear weapons and missile program, which now includes developmental long-range missiles targeting the U.S. mainland.

Following the talks, South Korean officials said Kim Yo-jong had invited Mr Moon to visit Pyongyang.

"President Moon must balance his desire for North-South reconciliation with his policy of denuclearization", Manning said.

Pence is viewing the short-track competition, in which eight Americans are participating. While both the naturalized and South Korean-born players used English words for basic ice hockey terms such as "shoot", "pass" and "change", the North Korean players did not use any English terms. Pence appeared to leave the door open for negotiations earlier this week when he said, "I haven't requested any meeting".

The countries are still technically at war since a 1953 armistice, though they have resumed talks after a year-long standoff between North Korea and the United States in which an exchange of threats between the heads of state elevated tensions and prompted the North's continued missile and nuclear tests.

Cheong Wa Dae (South Korean presidential office) spokesperson Kim Eui-kyeom said that Yo-jong came to South Korea as a "special envoy of Kim Jong-un". Wearing a black coat and with her hair pulled back, she presents a marked contrast to the ceremonial head of North Korea's government - the often expressionless Kim Yong Nam, 90.

Critics - among them US Vice President Mike Pence and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe - warn of a charm offensive by Pyongyang, which mounted a military parade on Thursday in a show of strength.

White House officials and other critics believe North Korea is trying to use the worldwide stage to gain sympathy and ease punishing economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure that are beginning to bite.

By also sending a youthful, photogenic individual who would surely draw worldwide attention at the Olympics, Kim might have also been trying to construct a fresher image of the country, particularly in face of US efforts to use the Olympics as an occasion to highlight the North's brutal human rights record.

'It is absolutely necessary for the North and the United States to engage in talks at an early date, ' his spokesman said.

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